Latch for lamp construction



H. C. FOSTER.

\ LATCH FOR LAMP CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILEDIULYB, 1920.

1,390,773, I .PatentedSept. 13,1921;

INVENTOR.

UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY C. FOSTER, OF CONNERSVI LLE, INDIANA, ASSIGN OR TO INDIANA LAMP COM- PANY, 0F CONNERSVILLE, INDIANA.

LATCH ron LAMP CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent Patented. Sept. 13, 192% Application flled July 6, 1920. Serial No. 394,220.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARRY (l. Fos'rnn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Connersville, county of Fayette, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Latch for Lamp Construction; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

This invention relates to lamps, and in particular to head lamps or headlightscommonly used upon automobiles and the like. The chief object of this'invention is to provide means for detachably securing the door or closuremember to the lamp casing by simply pushing the door forward on the casing, t us eliminating the necessity of giving it atwist or turn, as iscommon with such automatic spring locking devices.

The chief feature of the invention consists in roviding means associated with the casing ange and door rim which cooperates with eachother to yieldingly lock the/door to the casing. n

Another feature of the invention consists in providing that the locking means, when the detachable members are so arated from each other, will be positioned in the receiving position and maintained in said position until such time as the detachable members are again associated with each other.

:A further feature of the invention consists in providing the locking means with a pivotally supported U-shaped lever and associating with the same a tripping pin which also serves as a locking pin.

The full nature of this invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following, description and claims, n a

In the drawingsxFigure 1 is a side elevational view of an automobile headlight embodying the features of the invention and having parts broken away to show other parts in detail, the invention being shown in the locked position. Fig. 2 is a plan view of theinvention and associated parts of the headlight, Fig. 3 ,is a side elevational view of the invention with associated parts of the head lamp with the cover removedand the latching means in the receiving or unlocked position. Fig. 4 is a similar viewshowing the parts in the inoperative position.

Heretofore it has been the practice to detachably secure a circular door 10 to the circular headlight bowl 11 by providing interlocking means upon said door or closure member and said bowl which cooperate to lock said door to saidbowl when. said door .is moved longitudinally of the bowl axis and circumferentially of said axis. This construction, however, is only applicable to headlamps having circular form. To provide a de achable connection between the door or closure member 1.0 and the head light bowl ll which will be universal so that doors and bowls of geometrical formother than circular, is the chief object of this invention and the main feature thereof. To

insure this universatility. the attaching means associated with the door 10 and the headlight casing 11 is operable when said detachable members are movable longitudinally of the bowl axis only. With this method of operation head lamps of various geometrical design may be provided with quick detachable doors which wlll be automatically locked onthe casing by simply pushing them thereon. j

1 The embodiment selected to illustrate the invention is shown'inthe drawings in which 10 indicates the door or closure member and 11 the casing, said members being detachably secured together. In the present 1nstance the casing 11 is provided with a forwardly projecting rim or flange 12 and the door is provided with a rearwardly projecting I'lIIl 13 which are telescopically arranged. In the present instance the, door rim 13 is of larger diameter'than. the flange 12, althouvh the parts may be reversed 1f desired. k imilarly the invention is applied to the construction illustrated, but it will. be also understood that the samemay be re versed and the associated parts: transferred from one member to the other without departing from the invention.

In the drawings the flange 12 1s PlQVKlGCl with a transverse longitudinal slot 14 adapted to receive a radially extending pin 15 suitably secured to or carried by the door rim 13. Adjacent the transverse and longr tudinally extending slot 14 is a bell crank v lever 16 pivoted at 17 and substantially U- shaped in form. ()ne arm of said U-shaped lever is elongated at 18 while the other s provided with a pin member 19 to which is secured a tension member 20, the ther end upon the. pivot'l'i, such that, as said pin moves into the slot, the U-shaped lever also moves inwardly until the elongated end or arm 18 is moved to the position shown in Fig. 1. lVhen in this position the pin 15 is locked against longitudinal movement in said slot, since further longitudinal movement of said pin'inwardly is limited by either resting against the bottom of the slot 14 or preferably by the closure member 10 engaging upon the casing 11.

The means for retaining said lever in the latching position illustrated in Fig. 1 com-j prises'the tension member which yieldingly retains said latching lever in the locking position, since the tension member is cccentrically secured upon said lever. \Vhen the parts are'in the position shown in Fig. 3 said tension member maintains the U shaped lever or hell crank lever 16 in the open or receiving position. The tension I member 20 in addition to maintaining the bell crank or U-shaped locking lever in the receiving position, or maintaining the lever in .the locking position as shown in Fig. 1 is also adapted to maintainthe locking lever 16 in the inope 'ative position as shown in Fig. 4E, shouldfor any reason the bell crank lever accidentally be tilted to the locking position or over center without the pin 15 being inserted in said slot. This provision permits the door orclosure member 10 to bepositioned uponthebowl 11', as heretofore described, even though one of the U- shaped levers hasbeen tilted. Said tilted lever thus does not interfere with the normal operation of the detachable members. If desired, suitable stoppingmeans may also limit the tilting movement of the lever as shovvninFig. 1, but in the present instance the head 24 of the bowl 11 is sufficient, for the lever is pivoted relative thereto such that continued tilting movement of the lever from the. locking position is limited in amount only sufficient to position the bell crank clear of the slot. The inoperatively positioned lever may be readily returned to the receivingfposition by manually tilting the same in the opposite direction. 7

. In the drawings there has been illustrated twotelescoping'rims, one upon the bowl and the other upon the door, one of said rims being provided with a plurality of longitudinal and t ansverse slots and the other oi said rims being provided with a similar number of radially extending pins. .fltli being scatable in one of said longitudinal and trans verse slots and movable longitudinally of the same. In the drawings the locking means illustrated are secured in spaced relation about the periphery of the bowl and thc detachable door or closure member.

For further locking the door on the casing. and preventing the movement of the lever 16 to unlocking position. there is provided a'latch 25 having a head 20 adapted to engage the arm 18 oi the lever as shown in Fig. 1. so as to prevent its opening outwardly.- The latch is mounted on a member 27 embedded in the bead 24' so as to be ope able therein by the projection 28 extending through a slot. By manually operating the projection 28, the latch 25 will be caused to lock or release the lever 16.

\Vhilc the invention has been described in detail. many modifications thcrcol will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, several of which have been sungrcstctl in the foregoing specifications. but said modifications are considercd to be within the broad purview of this invention as claimed.

The invention claimed is:

l. A. latching device for a lamp construction comprising a rim having a slot therein, a second rim to be latched thereto having a pin receivable by said slot, a U-shaped lever pivotally supported intermediate its axis and adjacent the slot and movable by the pin into position to retain said pin therein, and a spring secured at one end to the end of one of the arms and at the other end to said first mentioned rim, whereby said lever will be yieldingly held in latched or unlatched position thereby.

'2. A latching device for a lamp construction including in combination a lamp casing, a detachable closure member for said casing, and locking means mo "able into the receiving positionv when the closure member is detached from the casing and movable into the locking position when the closure member is movel longitudinally of the casing axis to seat the member upon and lock the membento the casing.

3. Alatching device for a lamp construction including in combination a lamp cas ing, a detachable closure member for said casing, and locking means movable into the receiving position when the closure member is detached from the casing and movable into the locking position when the closure member is moved longitudinally of the casing axis to seat the member upon and lock the member to the casing. and means for maintaining said locking means in the re ceiving and locking position.

4'. A latching device for a lamp construction comprising a rim having a slot therefi l in, a pin receivable by the slot in said rim, a linger pivotally supported adjacent the slot and movable by the pin into position to retain said pin within the slot.

5. A latching device for a lamp construction comprising a rim having a slot therein, a pin receivable by the slot in said rim, means pivotally supported adjacent the slot and movable by the in into position to retain said pin within the slot, and means for yieldingly maintaining said pivoted means in the retaining .osition.

6. A latching device or a lamp construction comprising a slotted rim, a pin receivable by the slot in said rim, a bell crank lever pivotally support-ed intermediate the ends and adjacent the slot and movable by the pin into position to retain said pin in the slot, and spring means connected to one arm of said lever for maintaining the other arm of said lever adjacent the pin in the retaining position.

7. A latching device for a lamp construction comprising a slotted rim, :1 pin receiveable by the slot in said rim, a U-shaped lever with one arm elongated, said lever being pivotally supported intermediate its arms and adjacent the slot and movable by the pin into position to retain said pin in the slot; spring means associated with the shortened arm of said U-shaped lever, stop means associated with the elongated arm of said lever for limiting the tilting movement of said lever in one direction, and stop means for limiting the tilting movement of said lever in the opposite direction.

8. In a latching device for a lamp c0nstrnction including a lamp casing and a detachable closure member for said casing, the combination of a rim associated with the casing and a rim associated with the closure member, said rims being telescopically arranged, one of said rims being provided with a slot open at the rim edge, a radially extending pin positioned upon the other rim, being receivable by said slot and movable longitudinally thereof, a locking lever associated with said pin and slot con nection for locking said pin in said slot, a latching member mounted within said casing having a portion thereof projecting therethrough for manual control, and a latch mounted on said member in position to engage said lever and prevent it from releasing said pin.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

HARRY G. FOSTER. 

